2021 Dalla Mia Finestra Cabernet Sauvignon

There is something of a golden patch for Cabernet in the Lower Yarra.

This is where the likes of Mount Mary and Yeringberg have forged their reputations for producing some of the country's finest Cabernets and Cabernet blends.

At the bottom of the Yeringberg slope, a stone's throw from that legendary vineyard, sits the little family property of Bruce Lang. He's a man who quietly tends his grapes, Cabernet mainly, but with patches of Malbec, Shiraz and Pinot Noir in the ground.

He makes his wine with a hodgepodge of equipment, everything done by hand. The wines he makes, without fanfare, seriously over deliver.

The Cabernet is smoking value if you love the mid-weight Claret styles the Yarra has become adored for.

95 points
"The first Finestra cab to include 5% of merlot/malbec/cabernet franc. A very bright crimson red. A perfumed and youthful bouquet of dark cherries, blackcurrant, damson plums and violets. Gently leafy and equally good on the medium-bodied palate, which is juicy, yet compact with fine grained, persistent tannins rounding out a lovely wine. It's not the first Finestra wine I've tasted recently that has over delivered at this modest pricepoint, either."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points
"Red and black fruits, baking spice, plenty of perfume, violet and pencils, and gee it’s a beautiful smelling wine, and there’s a slight varietal roast red capsicum/pimento thing that adds rather than detracts. It’s medium-bodied, plenty of fleshy tannin grip, acidity is bright and crisp, and the finish is long and gently chewy, with tobacco and floral perfume trailing. Essence of YV Cabernet. It’s such a strong release, and best since the 2017. I’m thinking either 94 or 95 points, though the longer I spend time with it, the more it pushes me towards the higher score. Incredible value for a wine of this class and provenance too."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)